COUNCIL DIVIDED OVER NEEDLE DROP BOXES

A proposal to install mailbox-like receptacles for used needles in
downtown Victoria evoked mixed feelings from Victoria city
councillors last week.

But no matter what council decides, there's a consensus that
efficient and effective syringe disposal is only part of the solution
to the city's drug problems.

"I must say that I have discomfort with the original plan... needle
drop boxes in public places actually are not successful at all,"
Coun. Dean Fortin admitted at Thursday's committee-of-the-whole
meeting, citing Baltimore Maryland, Md. and Worcester, Mass. as examples.

"In other places they have been abandoned for needle exchange
programs, which we already have."

Fortin, a vocal supporter of harm-reduction approaches to addiction,
called for more resources for needle exchange programs and expressed
frustration at the federal government's reluctance to approve a safe
injection site for Victoria.

"Where's our safe injection site? It's clear all the studies say
that's the way to go," Fortin said.

Mayor Alan Lowe, also a supporter of the safe-injection site concept,
sided with Fortin, saying "it's more effective to deal with the
needle exchange" and suggesting that the city work more closely with
the pharmacies that sell syringes.

Part of council's reluctance stems from the idea that needle drop
boxes would tarnish the city's image.

Coun. Charlayne Thornton-Joe, however, said the public has to realize
that used syringes pose a significant public safety risk and accept
that drug-use is a fact of life in the Capital Region.

"When it comes to public safety, even if one needle ends up in a drop
box, to me that gives me some comfort," she said on a Victoria radio
talk show Sunday.

"I think someone said people would be afraid to hear that we have
drug issues, but I'm sorry, people know that. They are there.

"We said we didn't want the big mailboxes that were discussed a few
years ago, but... I think there could be discrete small boxes in key
areas where there is high demand."

Six weeks ago, the Vancouver Island Health Authority launched a
needle drop box program in partnership with the City of Courtenay.
Two receptacles have been installed, one at the Sixth Street entrance
to the Courtenay Riverway and one at Standard Park.

The project was championed by the mother of a seven-year-old son who
sustained a needle-poke injury last summer from a discarded needle he
found in their curbside driveway. Tests have so far indicated the boy
did not contract AIDS or any other disease in the encounter.

Vancouver Island Health Authority spokesperson Suzanne Germain said
the Courtenay boxes are being used but it's too soon the measure the
success of the program.